Launch of Nokia's $20 phone begs question: Is one mobile enough?

Nokia chief exec suggests its customers will use $20 mobile as a backup

Stephen Elop says the 105 device has a standby battery life of 35 hours

Phone is part of Nokia's strategy of cornering budget end of mobile market

Barcelona, Spain (CNN) -- Is it time to start carrying two mobile phones? With the launch of a new no-frills handset, at least one manufacturer is hoping more people might soon be relying on multiple mobiles.

Unveiling its cheapest ever mobile phone, a $20 handset with a 35-hour battery, Nokia said the device's extraordinary staying power could make it popular as a backup for when our main handsets run out of juice or prove too bulky to carry around.

As he touted the Nokia 105 at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, an annual showcase for the newest hand-held gadgets, the company's chief executive Stephen Elop suggested that the time has come for some of us to be using two phones.

While some might balk at the idea of filling their pockets with yet more technology, the enduring popularity of some existing low-priced models suggests Elop could be right.

Modern mobiles might be capable of all sorts of trickery, but thanks to power-hungry screens and processors, many are incapable of staying switched on for long, despite the aid of various apps designed to wring out every last drop of battery power.

Not so Nokia's 105. Although this barebones device offers none of the internet connectivity of most modern phones, it will be able to sit on standby for more than a month between charges.

The handset, which also features a dust and splash-proof keypad and an FM radio, has been primarily launched as a low-end phone that would appeal to customers in the developing world who may have infrequent access to electricity.

Nokia hopes that by focusing on budget as well as top end users it can reclaim ground from rivals such as Apple, Samsung and ZTE who have in recent years undermined the Finnish multinational's previously dominant position.

Elop, Nokia's chief executive, told CNN his company hoped other budget models such as the Lumia 520, which includes top-end features such as internet and email access and a camera but a lower-end price of about $180, would help it corner this market.

Nokia isn't alone in targeting this sector. Earlier this month Microsoft announced a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Huawei to create a sub-$150 smartphone specifically aimed at developing markets in Africa.

But elsewhere in the world, Elop said his cheapest device would appeal as either a failsafe that users can turn to when their smarter handsets are struck dumb by power outage or as a novelty stand-in for costlier, bigger devices.

"For some people it is their first mobile phone in an emerging economy for example," he said.

"For others it might be the device they toss into the glove box of the car as a backup device or maybe something retro chic that they might carry with them to a party and slip into a clutch instead of their larger smartphone."